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Adam Greenwell

ListenUp Documentation

Version 1.5.135

Welcome to the comprehensive documentation for ListenUp, a powerful WordPress plugin that adds text-to-speech functionality to your posts and pages using Murf.ai's AI voices.

Table of Contents

Getting Started

Audio Generation

Voice Configuration

Content Processing

Cloud Storage

Display & Integration

Content Management

Troubleshooting

What is ListenUp?

ListenUp is a WordPress plugin that converts your written content into professional audio using Murf.ai's text-to-speech technology. Visitors can listen to your posts and pages, improving accessibility and engagement.

Key Benefits

Professional Audio Quality

  • Natural-sounding AI voices from Murf.ai
  • Multiple voice styles for different content types
  • Support for multiple languages and accents
  • Gen2 speech controls for locale, sample rate, channel, speed, pitch, and variation
  • Customizable pronunciation for technical terms

Seamless Integration

  • One-click audio generation from the post editor
  • Automatic player placement or shortcode control
  • Featured or compact frontend player layouts
  • Accent colors, skip buttons, and playback speed controls
  • Audio library shortcode for content discovery
  • Works with any WordPress theme

Smart Content Handling

  • Automatic chunking for long content
  • Pre-roll audio support for branding
  • Multiple audio format options
  • Efficient caching system

Flexible Storage

  • Local storage with leech protection
  • Optional cloud storage (S3, R2, GCS)
  • Signed URLs for secure delivery
  • Bandwidth optimization

What's New in 1.5.135

ListenUp 1.5.135 brings the current support-site documentation up to the latest public release:

  • Murf Gen2 reusable-file controls for locale, sample rate, mono/stereo output, speed, pitch, and variation
  • A refreshed native browser audio player with featured and compact layouts
  • Player accent choices for blue, green, orange, and slate
  • Optional 15-second skip controls and a playback speed selector with a configurable default speed
  • Audio Library and [listenup_library] cache management commands for large sites
  • Lumenare Search relevance boosting for posts that already have ListenUp audio
  • File-based asset cache busting to prevent stale player JavaScript and CSS after browser or CDN caching

Feature Overview

One-Click Audio Generation

Generate professional audio for any post or page with a single click from the WordPress editor. The meta box shows generation status and provides playback controls.

Learn more about Audio Generation →

Intelligent Content Chunking

Long content is automatically split into manageable chunks for the Murf.ai API. The frontend player seamlessly plays all chunks in sequence, and downloads are automatically concatenated.

Learn more about Content Chunking →

Pronunciation Dictionary

Define custom pronunciations for technical terms, acronyms, and brand names. Ensure "AWS" is spoken as "Amazon Web Services" or "NES" as "Nintendo Entertainment System."

Learn more about Pronunciation →

Cloud Storage Integration

Offload audio files to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, or Google Cloud Storage. Reduce bandwidth costs and improve delivery performance with signed URLs.

Learn more about Cloud Storage →

Pre-roll Audio

Add branded introductions that play before your content. Generate pre-roll audio with custom text or upload your own audio file.

Learn more about Pre-roll →

Accessible Audio Player

A fully accessible native audio player with keyboard navigation, screen reader support, and responsive design. WCAG-compliant controls work on all devices, and the player can be styled as a larger featured module or a compact control bar.

Learn more about the Audio Player →

Player Customization

Choose the player layout, accent color, optional skip controls, optional speed selector, and default playback speed from Settings → ListenUp → Display.

Learn more about Player Customization →

Leech Protection

Audio files are served through secure PHP proxy with nonce-based authentication. Prevent unauthorized access and hotlinking without server configuration.

Learn more about Security →

Audio Library

Display a collection of posts with audio using the library shortcode. Perfect for podcast-style content listings or audio archives.

Learn more about Audio Library →

Lumenare Search Integration

When Lumenare Search is active, ListenUp can boost results that already have generated audio so visitors are more likely to find listenable content.

Learn more about Lumenare Search Integration →

Support

For support questions, please use the WordPress.org support forums.

Privacy & External Services

ListenUp integrates with external services to provide text-to-speech functionality.

Murf.ai API

  • Purpose: Converts text to speech using AI voices
  • Data Sent: Post content, voice selection, locale, speech generation settings, pronunciation rules
  • When Sent: When audio generation is requested manually or through enabled automation
  • Privacy Policy: murf.ai/privacy-policy

Optional Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is completely optional and disabled by default. If enabled:

  • Amazon S3: Audio files uploaded to your S3 bucket
  • Cloudflare R2: Audio files uploaded to your R2 bucket
  • Google Cloud Storage: Audio files uploaded to your GCS bucket

No data is sent to these services unless you explicitly configure and enable them.

Last Updated: April 2026

Plugin Version: 1.5.135

Requires WordPress: 5.9 or higher

Requires PHP: 8.1 or higher